Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to a ferrule system for a fiber optic connector, and methods of manufacturing and using the same.
Typical practice for manufacture of optical fibers attached to hardened ferrules includes attachment of a stripped fiber using epoxy to a hardened ferrule. The fiber is mechanically-cleaved or laser-cleaved, and then the end of the fiber and ferrule are polished semi-manually, which can be tedious and expensive. To speed manufacturing it is desired to be able to use lasers, particularly an industrial CO2 laser, to cleave and polish the optical fiber and ferrule. However, Applicants have found that using an industrialized CO2 laser, at the intensity, pulse repetition, sweep speed, polarization etc. that would be useful to cleave and machine the optical fiber, can induce fractures in the ferrule. A need exists for a ferrule system that facilitates use of a high-powered laser to cleave and machine, without substantially damaging the ferrule.